Interview with Thomas Finkbeiner
Q: Please give us a brief description of your professional background.
A: After graduating with a PhD in Geophysics from Stanford University in 1998, I worked for 17+ years in the petroleum industry consulting in geomechanics and related applications such as wellbore stability during drilling and production, sand production, fluid migration, unconventional reservoirs and more (first with GeoMechanics International – GMI – from 1998 to 2008 and then with Baker Hughes after GMI’s acquisition in 2008). From 2013 to 2015 I worked for OMV in Vienna (Austria) as Senior Geomechanics Expert and was responsible for fostering geomechanical understanding and application in OMV E&P worldwide. In January 2016 I joined King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as Senior Research Scientist in the Upstream Petroleum Engineering Research Center (UPERC).
Q: How do you define geomechanics?
A: Good question – in particular since geomechanics means different things to different people. My definition is as follows:
Petroleum geomechanics investigates rock mechanical behaviour in the subsurface (i.e., at the wellbore wall, the overburden and in the reservoir) under present-day, in-situ stress and pore pressure conditions or those changed through human intervention (e.g., drilling, production, injection, stimulation). Utilizing this understanding optimizing the drilling or/and production process can be achieved in the sense that rock mechanical failure is avoided, limited or otherwise managed.
Q: Do you think the importance and/or application of geomechanics in the oil and gas industry is different in different geographical regions? And, if so, how?
A: There are common general themes everywhere across the globe (e.g., wellbore integrity); however, each region or petroleum basin/province has its own lithological, structural, and tectonic settings that makes it unique and, hence, the geomechanical challenges and applications vary. For example, reservoirs in the Middle East are dominated by (fractured/vuggy) carbonates, which pose very different challenges during drilling, completion, and production than say the Gulf of Mexico with its predominantly thick sand and shale sequences where often pore pressure and fracture gradient predictions in combination with mud weight requirements are a critical topic (amongst other issues).
Q: How do you think the industry downturn has affected, or will affect, geomechanics as a discipline and/or as a community?
A: Not only has the industry laid off many geomechanical experts and lost this expertise and experience but the willingness to engage geomechanics has probably declined as well, using it only when it is really necessary; in other words, it has slipped even more into a reactionary discipline (i.e., use it only when the problems are already occurring) than before. Furthermore, I believe, we will see the impact of the loss of expertise and experience in the years to come when it is time to train and educate fresh graduates and young professionals in the art and understanding of geomechanics. Becoming proficient in the discipline does not happen overnight and requires a broad understanding of the disciplines geomechanical experts interact with in addition to the discipline-specific technical know-how.
Q: What technical breakthroughs do you see on the geomechanics horizon?
A: 3D geomechanics and a more seamless integration with reservoir simulation; there is still a lot of development to be done to get the coupling right – in particular when it comes to fractured reservoirs – but I think a handful companies have already created promising products.
In addition more robust and thorough uncertainty analyses and risk assessments; I think, these are key in particular when communicating results to asset managers and key field development personnel.
Q: Please tell us about the upcoming EAGE event in Abu Dhabi.
A: The upcoming EAGE/SPE workshop on geomechanics is entitled “Manage and Improve Asset Performance with Geomechanics” and aims to inform asset managers, technology leaders, G&G experts and engineers on how to further integrate geomechanics into their various field development project activities starting from exploration via drilling to the full development phase; in other words, across the entire life cycle of their asset(s).
We plan to introduce key topics such as addressing the issue of data availability and quality at the different stages of the field’s life, acquiring measurements at various scales to help reduce uncertainty and translating advanced numerical computations to operational recommendations and business benefits, especially when risk is at stake.
An additional highlight of the workshop is a key note, survey, and extended discussion session with and around Glen Burridge’s theme “Geomechanics Quo Vadis”, which will address the role and value of geomechanics in the industry at present and in the future. So, stay tuned on an update after the workshop.
Q: What is meant by the term "integrated geomechanics?”
A: The usage and application of geomechanics in the entire life cycle of a field development project; in other words, making it an integral part of the associated project work flow creating barrier free and equal level communication and exchange with all other E&P disciplines involved – starting as early as the exploration phase.
Q: What makes geomechanics important right now?
A: The push to be integrated in the entire life cycle of a field development project and help ensure economical well delivery. We have seen this in particular with the unconventionals but it should also get more to the forefront of brown field developments where IOR and EOR practices are key in order to increase recovery factors.
Q: Why do you feel it’s important for an industry professional to attend an event like this?
A: It helps to broaden the understanding of geomechanics, how and when to use it and its value for asset development.
Q: What is your hope for the future of the geomechanics discipline?
A: Structurally and organizationally, I think geomechanics still needs to be recognized as a core discipline firmly integrated with other disciplines and bestowed with the same authority levels as say petrophysics, geology, reservoir engineering etc. It needs to be engaged as early on in a field development project as possible (and if it was only to check whether geomechanical issues may become important during the life of a field/reservoir or not).
Although geomechanics is recognized as an important discipline quite often there still appears to be a disconnect between the geomechanics experts and the applying engineers when it comes to communicating results, uncertainties, risk and recommendations. This should be improved – better communication is key.
From a technical point of view, there is still a tremendous challenge developing and the calibrating proper stress profiles/cubes for a given horizon/reservoir/field. I believe this is fundamental and more efforts (e.g., research) need to be spent to address this matter.
Q: Are there any other topics related to geomechanics that we haven’t discussed and which you’d like to comment on?
A: The petroleum industry is in a critical transition period right now and I see academia playing a vital role in this process. Properly educating, transferring knowledge, advising, and promoting students who wish to work in geomechanics and equipping them for a job in the industry is critical; one advantage of a more active role by academia is that it should help reduce onboarding time with the operators and service providers.